Understanding Sikh activism in Britain

Research sparked by media reports citing Sikh “radicalisation” in Britain has found little evidence of the country's Sikhs being radicalised to join international terrorist groups.

Instead, work led by the University of
Leeds found that the most frequently reported examples of violence involving
Sikhs in Britain were against other Sikhs, usually caused by doctrinal or personal
disputes or disputes relating to how gurdwaras  places of worship for Sikhs 
are run.

Media reports surfaced in late 2015 about
a dossier on alleged Sikh radicalisation in Britain being shared with the
government of then Prime Minister David Cameron by his Indian counterpart Narendra
Modi.

Dr Jasjit Singh from the Universitys School of Philosophy, Religion and the
History of Science, set
out to examine the reality of Sikh activism in the UK, amid other, more recent
media attention focusing on Sikh protests at gurdwaras and other venues, and
growing concerns about Sikh/Muslim tensions and links with the far right.

With funding from the Centre
for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST), Dr Singh interviewed Sikh activists, gathered
evidence from historic and contemporary media sources, academic literature,
social media, online discussion forums, events, interviews and a series of
community consultations.

Dr Singh examined how two key events in 1984
fundamentally changed Sikh activism in Britain. In June that year, Operation
Bluestar saw Indian forces storming the Harmandir Sahib, often referred to as
the Golden Temple, in Amritsar in the Punjab.

In October, Sikh bodyguards assassinated
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, triggering a wave of violence against
Sikhs across India. These events remain traumatic issues for many Sikhs in
Britain.

Dr Singh said: This research highlights
that Sikhs have no conflict with Britain or the West. There is much unresolved
trauma in the Sikh community around the events of 1984 which continues to drive
many Sikhs to activism. However, in terms of incidents and issues, the most
frequently reported incidents of violence involving Sikhs in Britain have taken
place against other Sikhs.

These Sikh on Sikh issues were a
consequence of the contested nature of religious authority within the Sikh
tradition and/or local factional politics which most often related to personal
and familial disputes, his report shows.

Dr Singh found that another reason
commonly given for activism is a concern about Muslim gangs targeting Sikh
girls for grooming or conversion, and these cases not being sufficiently dealt
with by the authorities. This narrative feeds on historical tensions between
Sikhs and Muslims, but in its contemporary form has led some Sikhs to engage
with far right organisations.

Contrary to the 2015 reports about the
radicalisation of British Sikhs, one of the main issues about Sikhs in the UK is
actually the individual or group vigilantism resulting from Sikh cultural issues
and disputes or from the exploitation of local intra and inter-community
tensions, he explained.

In fact, Dr Singh said much Sikh
activism in Britain contributed positively to the integration agenda,
particularly in the form of humanitarian relief provided during natural
disasters, such as floods in Somerset and Hebden Bridge, and incidents such as
the Grenfell Tower fire, where members of the public required support.

Further
information

For interviews with Dr Jasjit Singh or for further information, contact
Gareth Dant, Media Relations Manager at the University of Leeds on 0113
343 3996 or email g.j.dant@leeds.ac.uk.

For queries about the Centre for Research and
Evidence on Security Threats, contact Dr Matthew Francis, Communications
Director at CREST, on 07870 835267, or email m.d.francis@lancaster.ac.uk.

The full report
is available to download here. The executive summary is
available here.

The Ethno-National, Religio-Cultural Or
Anti-Muslim? Investigating Sikh Radicalisation In Britain project was
led by Dr Jasjit Singh, working with Professor Seán McLoughlin, both from
the School of Religion, Philosophy and the History of Science at the University
of Leeds. It was funded by the Centre for Research and Evidence on
Security Threats (CREST).

CREST was commissioned and is administered by the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) with a focus on conducting
independent research and knowledge synthesis about security threats (ESRC Award: ES/N009614/1). It is
funded with £4.35 million from the UK security and intelligence agencies and a
further £2.2m invested by its founding institutions  the universities of Lancaster,
Bath, Birmingham, Cranfield, Portsmouth and the West of England. More information about CREST can be
found at http://www.crestresearch.ac.uk/